1995 Honda Civic EX - Gran'mama Rollin' Deep

Can't Nobody Hold Her Down

Life on the freeway. I've seen the little punk kids who rev and pace me. I've seen middle-aged people who thought they were cool with hopped-up Civics like mine. But the 65-and-older crowd rolling in fixed-up imports? I thought I'd seen it all.

The older generation, aka grams and gramps. Take all your thoughts about homemade cookies, Metamucil, and pre-Honda era crop dusting, chugga-chugga choo-choo primer-colored rust heaps and put them aside. Now picture this: Grandma laid back sittin' on 18s with an exhaust canister big enough to store a hundred of those fresh-baked cookies. You won't be stuck behind this one, blowing your horn and cussing as she gives blank stares through those terminator-like sunglasses. She'll roar past you, giving you the bird while laughing at the size of your puny 16-inch rims. You'll kick yourself in the arse for losing a stoplight battle with her. And you thought you were the shhhh. Ha.

Meet Gisela H. Neumann, the latest adversary to face you at all the upcoming shows and races. Don't be fooled by her sweet outward appearance. She will soon put an end to all the sh-ttalking kiddies. (Don't get us wrong. She's really nice!) Gisela is the proud owner of a '95 Honda Civic EX coupe with plenty of go-fast goodies, eye-candy aesthetics, and bumpin' stereo components. As part of Relaxed Atmosphere car club, it was hard for her to keep her car as just a mere pick-me-up-from-school-grandma mobile for a long period of time, so (just like all us crazy mofos would do) she began to hop up her ride.

Engine mods weren't extreme, but nonetheless a great start. Gisela began upgrading her 1.6L SOHC motor by adding a Tenzo R cold-air intake complimented by an Airmass header and a Tenzo R exhaust system to improve upper-end power. To improve her horsepower figures further, she added a Gude throttle body and a Web camshaft. Nology Hotwires and NGK plugs provide the spark needed to fuel this fire. Just to make sure she could keep up with the whippersnappers, a 50-shot dry-manifold nitrous setup from NOS was installed. For show aspects, Gisela had J&A Autosport of Santa Barbara, California, chrome-polish whatever could be except for the block and tranny.

On the inside, Car Craft Custom Interiors, of Torrance, California, gets props for applying the custom teal and white interior to match the body paint. A Colorado Customs steering wheel, Racer Design shift knob, and Trenz Manufacturing pedals were added to provide a race-like look and feel. The stock stereo system was bumped up a notch by J&A Autosport utilizing McIntosh amps, Image Dynamics IDQ 10 speakers, and Stinger wires, which provide an output of 150 watts.

The suspension consists of Ground Control coilovers matched with Tokico shocks, which allow Gisela to keep her ride at either stock height or slam it all the way down 4 inches for show (whoa!). Antisway bars from Suspension Techniques and strut bars from Tenzo R were used to stiffen up the chassis. And do you remember the 18s I mentioned earlier? I wasn't pulling your leg, because this Civic certainly rolls deep on a set of 18x7 1/2 Enkei X-Roads wrapped by Nitto NT-450 (215/35R18) tires.

Of course, the exterior is the most notable aspect of this slammin' ride. Although she has kept the factory color, Gisela felt that the stock body lines weren't going to cut it, so she added a body kit and wing from Wings West. The H signs and hood squirters were shaved, and the side moldings, door pillars, and cowl were color-matched to the rest of the body. Modern Image finished the look by adding custom graphics. Gisela was quick to add that you have to "have lots of money" when the time comes for you to build up your Super Street ride. Dang, seems like gran-mama sure has our mentality down.